Aaron Houston/For The Star-LedgerN.J. Gov. Chris Christie speaks with the press at his office in Trenton. Christie lashed out at critics today on the controversy over the Supreme Court's decision to not hear the gay marriage case.

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie lashed out today against critics who question whether his choice to not reappoint a state Supreme Court Justice influenced the court's recent decision to not hear a lawsuit seeking to legalize gay marriage.

In a decision released on July 26, the state Supreme Court declined to hear a case in which six same-sex couples asked for the right to marry. The justices said the case first needed to make its way through Superior Court before the state's highest court would review it.

Some Democrats quickly noted that Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and Justices Roberto Rivera-Soto and Helen Hoens — who all face renomination and reconfirmation — voted to deny the motion, while the dissents came from three justices tenured until mandatory retirement at age 70: Virginia Long, Jaynee Lavecchia and Barry Albin.

The fourth vote would have been supplied by Justice John Wallace, who left the bench in May after the governor decided to not reappoint him. The tie vote meant the court would not hear the case.

State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union), a sponsor of the failed gay marriage bill, said he did not know if Christie's action on Wallace influenced the untenured justices, but was troubled by the fact that it raised the question.

"That's the tragedy of what Gov. Christie did in injecting politics into the Supreme Court, because we won't know," Lesniak said after the court released its decision. "There's speculation about that, and the integrity of the Judiciary has been put in question by what Christie did."

Christie is a vocal opponent to same-sex marriage.

Asked by reporters today at an unrelated press conference to comment on the speculation, Christie accused his critics of fabricating an issue to "forward their own political ends.''

"I would assume the three justices who voted not to hear the case based their decision on the interpretations of the law and the facts,'' Christie said.

"When you accuse them of putting their jobs ahead of their duty, you impugn the Judiciary when you make that kind of allegation. I am not going to participate in that. I have more respect for the Judiciary than that,'' Christie said.

Gay-rights advocates filed the lawsuit after the Senate defeated a same-sex marriage bill earlier this year.

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